Mighty Joe Young is the titular deuteragonist from the 1998 live-action Disney film Mighty Joe Young. Joe is a gigantic mountain gorilla who is adopted by Jill Young.
Background[]
Physical appearance[]
Joe is essentially a giant mountain gorilla. As such, he looks the same as a normal mountain gorilla (dark fur with a silver color on his back), only he is twice the size. He stands 15 feet (4.6 m) tall and weighs 2,000 pounds (910 kg); similar in size to the prehistoric ape Gigantopithecus.
Personality[]
Joe is always loyal and faithful but can act very violent and hot-tempered when provoked or when things go wrong.
Role in the film[]
Joe is first seen as a baby when Jill finds him in the grass and plays peek-a-boo with him until Jill's mother catches her. Joe is seen again running away from the hunters who killed his mother with Jill until her wounded mother finds them and holds her daughter close when she was fleeing from the hunters. Before she dies, she tells Jill to take care of Joe.
Twelve years later, Jill and Joe are seen again in several scenes. Eventually, Joe (not only now an adult but has grown enormous) is sent to an animal preserve, but his peaceful residence is short-lived when he gets provoked by poachers and causes a rampage during a public interview at a party. Joe is then detained in a large prison cell, but Jill and Gregg manage to free him. He is then forced to flee when he runs into Strasser, the police and the navy, who are all out to get him.
Joe is later seen in the fire-at-the-fairground scene where he has to rescue Jason, a little boy, from the Ferris wheel, but falls hard on the ground in the process and lays asleep, making Jill desperately think that he is dead. Jill tries to wake him up a few times, but nothing happens, and she falls into tears. Several minutes later, Joe slowly opens his eyes and he and Jill are reunited. Joe is then given his own wildlife habitation, where he can roam free and live in peace.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Despite being the titular character, Jill is the overall protagonist since she has larger plans. However, Joe drives the plot.
- Due to a rare form of gigantism, Joe stands 15 feet tall and weighs 2,000 pounds.
- According to Rick Baker, the suit and design of Joe was his way of getting back at Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Rambaldi for not letting him fully realize his ape suit concept for the 1976 remake of King Kong. He stated in several interviews that this is the suit he always wanted to make for a Kong film.
- Since gorillas are distinct by their nose shapes, Joe designer and suit supervisor Matt Rose gave Joe "j" shaped nose prints.
- Suit performer John Alexander has a number of ape roles, one of his most iconic was the silverback Digit in Gorillas in the Mist, 10 years prior to Mighty Joe Young. Again, a suit designed and created by Rick Baker.
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